


The Strength of a Human Heart

by cwxyz



Category: Hataraku Maou-Sama! | The Devil Is a Part-Timer!
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 13:05:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10922391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cwxyz/pseuds/cwxyz
Summary: The Demon General has no strategy to defend against a determined woman's feelings.





	The Strength of a Human Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place between Volumes 13 and 14, so don't read if you don't want spoilers! No major plot spoilers though, just shippy ones.
> 
> I know a good chunk of the fandom enjoys Rika/Ashiya, but there's not nearly enough fics out there of them. So, enjoy!

“Ashiya, aren’t you going to walk Rika home?” Emi snapped the demon general’s attention from his current task of drying the dinner dishes. There wasn’t really a point to it since they were already placed on a drying towel, but he was doing whatever he could to distance himself from the table where everyone was gathered. 

The aforementioned woman was saying her goodbyes to everyone, slipping on her shoes. Her head lifted upon hearing her name, and the small smile she’d been wearing turned to a frantic, apologetic one. 

“Ah, n-no, it’s really fine,” Rika waved off the suggestion hastily. “It’s not far from here to the station, and it’s not very dangerous. Don’t trouble yourself for me.” 

“It’s, ah, not any trouble at all.” Ashiya placed a bowl down and went to find his jacket. Even if he didn’t feel obligated to walk her home, the expecting glare Emi was giving him was enough. 

So she probably didn’t know. He couldn’t really blame Rika for not telling her - saying you got rejected wasn’t something one was typically ecstatic to share, and he himself hadn’t even told his own companions about the events that transpired several days ago. And he had been the one doing the rejecting, for lack of a better term. 

Honestly, he was fairly surprised Rika had come here with Emi, but the explanation was that they had been out together for the day and Alas=Ramus wanted to see Maou. Not realizing how or why it would be awkward for Rika to tag along, she’d insisted her friend come along since they’d only spent a few hours together before Alas=Ramus began crying. He supposed Rika had simply gone along with it, not wanting to bring up a dismal topic on what was supposed to be an enjoyable day out. 

He had to give her credit for how happy and normal she seemed to be, interacting with everyone else naturally for the most part. As she should, of course, since none of them had done anything to her. She spoke significantly less to Ashiya directly, but when she had to still managed to maintain her bubbly demeanor. 

At least, while in front of others. As they headed towards the Sasazuka station, it was obvious she wasn’t quite her normal self. Or maybe the fact that others weren’t around just highlighted the fact that she wasn’t very interested in speaking to him. Even so she didn’t seem particularly angry or upset, just wrapped up in her own thoughts. 

“I’m sorry Emi roped you into this, I’m really fine.” Rika exhaled deeply, looking downwards. “It’s not like it's a dangerous route or anything.” 

“I don’t mind. Plus, you never know.” 

“Hm?” 

“Ah, it’s just...since you’re involved with us, you never know what sort of things can happen.” Chiho had certainly been put into dangerous situations in the past, and he would feel terrible if there was a repeat of that. “I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you.” 

“Oh...thanks.” 

The two walked in silence for several minutes, both unsure of what exactly to talk about. Conversation had flowed so freely between them before, but now it just seemed awkward. Ashiya was sure it’d be fine in the future, but the wounds were still fresh. Even as a demon, he understood things like hurt and loss, and felt he could empathize with how she was feeling right now. 

After all, he himself felt shaken and upset after their encounter, though for different reasons. 

“Are you cold?” He raised an eyebrow when she wrapped her arms around herself as the autumn wind blew against her. 

“It’s, it’s fine, we’re almost there.” Even though she sounded certain, the slight shiver that made its way into her voice didn’t escape him.

“Ah?” She stiffened as she felt something drape over her shoulders, and realized he’d place his own jacket there. It was soft and smelled like him, making her stomach flip. “You don’t have to-,”

“You could get sick being out in the cold. Besides, I’m wearing long sleeves.” Plus, Emi would probably yell and complain at him for not offering his jacket if she ended up sick. He had expected her to refuse the offer, which was why he’d done it without asking and brought up two very valid points to defend his action. 

He wouldn’t have been surprised if she gave it back to him still, but he was not prepared for Rika to whirl around to face him with a scowl. 

“What do you care if I’m cold, or get sick, or something bad happens to me?” 

“Wha, what?” Asiya straightened, shocked from the sudden 180 in demeanor. “I, of course I don’t want you to get sick or hurt, so if there’s something I can do to prevent it-” 

“Why, though? Why can’t you be more inconsiderate?” Her voice raised several decibels, but as he met her chocolate eyes he realized they looked glassy. 

“I don’t...Rika, I’m sorry, what are you trying to say?” As far as he understood in his time in Japan, people appreciate niceness, politeness, consideration...the fact that she seemed to be requesting he be less nice, he must be misinterpreting. 

“I’m saying that - that it’s very difficult to stop liking someone who continues to be the kind person that made you like them in the first place!” 

“...ah.” Even though Ashiya understood now, he still didn’t know how to respond. Besides, it still looked like she had things to say. “I’m sorry?” 

“Agh, don’t apologize, just...just tell me you don’t ever wanna see me again, you hate me, things that would make me mad at you and make me stop liking you! And stick with that!” Even if he had purposefully said harsh words in his demon form, the fact that he hung around and apologized profusely after practically negated that. “Why can’t you just tell me you don’t feel the same, at the very least?” 

“Because I don’t want to lie to you.” Rika froze, mouth slightly agape as tears still threatened her eyes. Ashiya was almost surprised he’d let himself say that, but when it really came down to it, he didn’t like seeing her upset, and he’d decided that being entirely honest might alleviate her pain at least somewhat. “And I don’t want you to dislike me.” 

“Th-that’s…” 

“Selfish, I know,” he admitted, thumbs looping into his front pocket as he looked down, giving a light smirk. “But can you expect anything more from a demon?” 

Rika gripped the jacket sleeves hanging around her neck in one hand, doing her damndest to keep from letting all the emotions cause her to tremble. His choice of words implied greatly that he did indeed reciprocate her feelings, which in itself gave her a sliver of hope. At the very least, it was better than a flat out rejection. 

But knowing you could have something and not being able to because one person refuses may be worse in the end. It left one with a feeling of perpetual longing of what could have been. “If...if you genuinely do not feel the same way towards me, that’s fine and I understand, but…” she gulped, attempting to strengthen her voice. “But if you do like me and are just trying to avoid hurting me, I...I can’t accept that!” 

“Rika, you know that this can very well end in you getting hurt-,” 

“You say that like I’m not hurt now. Isn’t it more a question of whether I get hurt now, or later?” 

“If...if we did end up...in a relationship, and then I had to go back to Ente Isla, it would hurt you more then as there’d be more attachment.” He stated this firmly, looking up to meet her eyes again. “It’s better to cut ties sooner.” 

“Ashiya, even if you were just a normal human there’d be the same risk.” Rika had sniffed back her tears and was feeling far more calm and confident now. “I don’t know how relationships work in your world, but here in Japan it’s naive to anticipate a relationship lasting forever before it’s even started. Most end in at least one person getting their heart broken, and that’s fine.” 

“What’s the point of investing time and emotions on something that’ll probably end in failure?” He was genuinely confused by her words. Then again, the concept of romance and love altogether was something fairly new to him. He knew that he trusted Rika and enjoyed her companionship a great deal, and he did find her cute...but was that love? He hadn’t put much thought into the concept as he’d never planned on developing a romantic relationship while in Japan, but he was certain that he felt differently towards Rika than he did the other women he knew. And not just because two-thirds of those women would chop his head off if given the opportunity. 

“Hmm...dunno, it can be fun? ‘Cause it might not fail, and even if it does…” she trailed off, biting her lip as if considering whether or not to continue. “When I was in high school, I dated a guy even though I knew he planned on going to Kyoto for school, and I planned on moving to Tokyo. I knew from the start it wouldn’t work out long term, but I still enjoyed every minute of it and don’t regret it at all, even if I was sad when it first ended.” 

It took Ashiya a moment to draw the parallels between their situations, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water as he attempted to piece together a response. 

The Demon General was a legendary war strategist, and all his battle schemes seemed to be rendered useless by an adorable human woman. A shiver of surprise jolted down his back as he felt freezing cold hands grab his own, and looked down to be met with a bright, assured smile. 

“Even if you really do look down on humans...we don’t live hundreds of years, so we have to make the best of the time we do have. Experiencing a bit of hurt as a result of doing something that makes you happy, well...that’s just part of it.” She paused and winked. “And if I can add ‘dated a demon from another world’ to my list of things I’ve done with my time, I’d count it as a win no matter what.” 

Ashiya stared for several seconds before letting out a laugh that broke the tension in his own mind, still somewhat unable to comprehend what this situation had become. He’d really expected that her seeing his demon form would be enough to drive out any romantic feelings and keep her away from them, but she seemed to be mostly unaffected. His time in Japan was showing him more and more each day that humans really were stubborn, resilient creatures, more than he ever gave them credit for. 

Right now, he felt like the strength of humans could be summed up in the woman before him, completely honest with her feelings and willing to put her own heart on the line for a little bit of happiness, refusing to back down in the face of a literal demon. 

“Maou told me once that human females are unexpectedly scary.” He squeezed her hands and finally returned her smile. “I see he was right.” 

Rika began to laugh, but was abruptly cut off by something pressing against her lips. It took several seconds for her to register that he was kissing her, Ashiya was kissing her, and by the time she was able to respond coherently it was over. It was brief and chaste, but it made Rika’s heart pound and face flush nonetheless. It was her turn to flounder, lightly touching her lips in shock. 

“Ah, I, I don’t really know about human relationships,” Ashiya stammered, her expression making him immediately unsure of his actions. Kissing wasn’t really a thing demons did, but he was vaguely familiar with it from a few things on television and in books, and he believed this to be an appropriate time to kiss Rika. It seemed like quite a strange thing to do to another person, but somehow it made his stomach flip, but in a good way? Human feelings were really so complicated. “I, um, I understand that’s a way humans show affection, ah, of the romantic type, but if that wasn’t-,” 

“No, it’s fine!” Rika quickly stopped him, not wanting him to get the impression that she didn’t like it at all. “I just, I wasn’t prepared! So I didn’t get to respond properly.” 

“Ah, sorry.” 

“So...so we should try it again!” Rika almost couldn’t believe she had the boldness to say that, but she wanted to enjoy it fully. Not to mention, that kiss probably gave him the impression that she didn’t know what she was doing, and she certainly wanted to amend that. “It’s not fair to ambush people, you should know.” 

Almost before she could finish she was cut off again, his lips only an inch away from hers and wearing a small smirk. “And what makes you think that demons play fair?"


End file.
